Castles in South Wales

Caerphilly Castle

This massive 'sleeping giant' of a castle effortlessly dominates the town of Caerphilly. The fortress sprawls over a huge area - 30 acres in all- making it the biggest in Wales and, along with Windsor and Dover, the largest in Britain.

The magnificient Carew Castle overlooks a 23 acre millpond and is built almost entirely of local limestone. Originally a Norman fortification it has been modified througout the centuries until it was used as an Elizabethan country house.

The ruined castle of Grosmont can be found in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with Herefordshire in England. It is located near the river Monmow and was built in the 13th century by Hubert de Burgh on earlier Norman foundations that consisted of a wooden motte and bailey castle.

William de Barri built the stone fortification in the early part of the 12th century. His son, Geraldus Cambrensis, also known as Gerald of Wales was born at the castle in 1146. He was known as a great scholar and wrote of Manorbier "In all the broad lands of Wales, Manorbier is the most pleasant place by far".

Pembroke Castle was the work of William Marshal including the keep at 80ft high. His son Gilbert Marshal enlarged and strenghened the castle castle between 1234 and 1241. In the English civil war it was besieged by the Royalists.

Noble Raglan remains the finest late-medieval fortress-palace in the British Isles. Largely the creation of the more peaceful later Middle Ages, it brings to a close the great castle-building chapter in Welsh history.

Skenfrith Castle can be found some ten miles west of Ross-on-Wye and just north of Monmouth and is definitely worth a visit. The visible remains were built by Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent between the years of 1219 and 1232 on top of a previous castle on the site that probably dates back to the Norman Conquest.

Oldest Tretower is a substantial 13th century stone keep built on the remnants of an earlier Norman earthwork castle. By the more settled 14th century, the castle's inhabitants felt secure enough to build a spacious new court. This evolved into the glorious house we now see before us, a fine example - rare in Wales - of a grand late-medieval country residence adorned with exceptional woodworking.

It's worth seeking out this castle, hidden in border country east of Abergavenny. Its squat round towers and high walls, still ringed by a water filled moat, are a well-preserved example of a compact, sturdy fortification of the troubled 13th century.